"There’s probably a hundred different lawyer-related type of shticks." Should you seek their counsel?

Of late, that punchline is less amusing than prescient. Over the past year, a new batch of startups have launched out of New York with the notion of using technology to bridge that disconnect between a client and her counsel—and perhaps inspire fewer contributions to the annals of pettifogger humor in the process.

Historically, the legal profession has been somewhat sheltered from the democratizing wave of the internet that drowned revenues in the music industry and media. Lawyers can’t claim as esoteric a skill set as, say, doctors. But the years of specialization and investment required to practice—and lawsuit-happy instincts of its practitioners—seem to have kept starry-eyed startup founders at bay. (Perhaps another reason being a lawyer makes the short list of professions your mom would be proud of.)

Economic upheaval, however, has a way of exposing inefficiencies. Read More

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